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My Uncle Jack always was a Navy man. He would tell me he was at Pearl Harbor this day but was in the Brig for acting up the night before. Did anyone else find the Pearl Harbor movie disturbing. I cried at the sight of those men dying in those ships. How horrifying it must have been for them.

On this day, 67 years ago, my grandparents married. They heard about the attack after they left the minister's house.

Wow....my mom was a wee lass, but she always told me she was at the general store ( yeah, I said general store ) and the propieter told her to hurry home and tell her folks to turn the radio on.....she said she was so scared because this man ( I forget his name ) was always so kind, but this moring he was crying......like a baby

I had no people at Pearl Harbor (and for the record I thought the 2001 movie was a pile of fecal matter), however, one of my friends in high school was a fellow named Steve Vrana and Steve's dad Mr. Vrana (it wasn't until years later I learned he had a first name, Leo) was on the battleship California. In 2000 a local newspaper did a story on Pearl harbor featuring Mr. Vrana and another survivor, James Rabalais so I thought I would add a link for those interested in reading:http://www.caller2.com/2000/december..._ne/11413.html

I had no people at Pearl Harbor (and for the record I thought the 2001 movie was a pile of fecal matter), however, one of my friends in high school was a fellow named Steve Vrana and Steve's dad Mr. Vrana (it wasn't until years later I learned he had a first name, Leo) was on the battleship California. In 2000 a local newspaper did a story on Pearl harbor featuring Mr. Vrana and another survivor, James Rabalais so I thought I would add a link for those interested in reading:http://www.caller2.com/2000/december..._ne/11413.html

My Uncle was stationed at "Pearl" Navy enlisted 1940,he was to be assigned to a ship that week instead,he became a body bare'r for a few weeks,his job removing bodies and parts of from the ships where they had been killed.He said it affected him greatly as being a 17 yr.old,he had never seen such carnage in his life.

Thanks Mysterian for this thread...just thought I'd add that visiting the Pearl Harbor memorial (and the sunken battleship USS Arizona) in Honolulu is one of the most profoundly moving experiences I've ever had.

My dad was born and raised on the island of Kauai. He was only 5 years old at the time of pearl harbor but remembers bits and pieces of things. He said he remembers having to do the 'black outs' and he remembers the day the war ended. He said everyone was outside that night partying in the streets.

The funny thing is that almost twenty years later my younger brother was born on Dec. 7, 1965.

Tomorrow marks the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There were many acts of bravery that day, as something of a history buff, felt it might be appropriate to recall some of the actions performed on that day.

There were 15 Medals of Honor awarded for actions on that day, 10 were awarded posthumously. All recipients were Naval personnel and only one recipient was not stationed aboard a ship at the time.

The first shots of the battle were actually fired by a Wickes-class destroyer, the USS Ward, commanded by Capt. William Outerbridge. Ward, discovered, fired upon and sank a Japanese Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarine outside the entrance to Pearl a couple of hours before Japanese carrier-borne planes began their attack (long in doubt, the sinking was confirmed in 2002 when the sub was discovered about 5 miles from the entrance to the harbor in 1200 ft of water).

In one of those odd twists of fate, in 1944 during the Leyte operations in the Philippines, Ward was struck and mortally wounded by a kamikaze plane. After Ward was abandoned and deemed unsalvageable, the destroyer USS O’Brien, was ordered to finish the job and sink Ward. The commanding officer of O’Brien? Capt. William Outerbridge.

USS Arizona, sank, is now a memorial.
USS Oklahoma, capsized, scrapped 1942.
USS Nevada, sat in several feet of water for 2 months, repaired and returned to service May 1943, used as target for atomic testing 1946, sunk by the Navy 1948.
USS Vestal, beached, repaired 1942, scrapped 1950.
USS Tennessee, badly damaged, went in for repairs in, returned to service in May 1943.
USS West Virginia, badly damaged, went in for repairs, returned to service in mid 1944, scrapped 1959.
USS Maryland, went back into service February 1942, scrapped 1959.
USS California, sank completely, raised March 1942, returned to service January 1944, scrapped 1959.
All of these ships suffered loss of life, none as bad as the Arizona, or Oklahoma, but men died on them just the same.
Many of these ships were build in 1912, 1914, 1916, and all were old when they were attacked, but they returned to the Pacific, many looked completely new, some looked the same, but they returned and gave the Japanese a major dose of "WHUP ASS"
Can you imagine how the Japs felt when they saw the VERY SAME ships they'd bombed at Pearl Harbor BACK, and attacking them!
Like the Phoenix, they rose up from not the ashes, but the ocean floor, and showed the Japanese what Americans are all about!

USS Arizona, sank, is now a memorial.
USS Oklahoma, capsized, scrapped 1942.
USS Nevada, sat in several feet of water for 2 months, repaired and returned to service May 1943, used as target for atomic testing 1946, sunk by the Navy 1948.
USS Vestal, beached, repaired 1942, scrapped 1950.
USS Tennessee, badly damaged, went in for repairs in, returned to service in May 1943.
USS West Virginia, badly damaged, went in for repairs, returned to service in mid 1944, scrapped 1959.
USS Maryland, went back into service February 1942, scrapped 1959.
USS California, sank completely, raised March 1942, returned to service January 1944, scrapped 1959.
All of these ships suffered loss of life, none as bad as the Arizona, or Oklahoma, but men died on them just the same.
Many of these ships were build in 1912, 1914, 1916, and all were old when they were attacked, but they returned to the Pacific, many looked completely new, some looked the same, but they returned and gave the Japanese a major dose of "WHUP ASS"
Can you imagine how the Japs felt when they saw the VERY SAME ships they'd bombed at Pearl Harbor BACK, and attacking them!Like the Phoenix, they rose up from not the ashes, but the ocean floor, and showed the Japanese what Americans are all about!

Beautifully said!

____________________________If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Like the Phoenix, they rose up from not the ashes, but the ocean floor, and showed the Japanese what Americans are all about!

In 1943, the Oklahoma was righted and refloated into drydock, but due to a combination of obsolescence and poor condition, it was decided not to return the ship to service. In September 1944 the ship was decommissioned, and in 1946 was sold to a California scrapyard, but sank en route from Hawaii.

Brave men all, no argument. Where is the black fellow that manned the gun?

Mess Attendant Doris Miller of the USS West Virgina, was first ordered to help remove the wounded Captain Bennion from the bridge. After Bennion refused to leave, Miller spied an unmanned .50 calibre anti-aircraft machine gun. Although he had never been trained on the weapon he manned the gun until he ran out of ammunition. All hands were soonafter ordered to abandon ship.

Miller said afterwords, "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us."

For his action, Miller was awarded the Navy Cross, at the time the Navy's third highest honor, after the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service medal. Nowadays the Navy Cross is the second highest award for valor, ranking only behind the Medal of Honor. He was also promoted to Mess Attendent First Class, eventually reaching the rank of CPO, Officer's Cook 3rd Class.

Miller was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa while serving aboard the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay.

My brother in laws uncle was aboard the Arizona. He wasn't killed but was under water too long and was deprived of oxygen. He came out of it with the mentality of a 7yr old. It was such a shame to see him like that.

I don't whether this is true but...I've heard that the Allies knew exactly when the attack on Pearl Harbour would happen. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, witheld that information from the Americans because he knew that a successful attack against them would compel the US to join the war effort, which they'd been reluctant to do prior to Dec. 7, 1941.

I heard Elvis paid to have the Arizona memorial
built. Does anyone know if thats true?

Not true, but in 1961 Elvis hosted a benefit concert at Pearl's Bloch Arena that according to National Park Service numbers, raised almost $55,000 for the memorial.

Other sources of funding came from Hawai'i ($50,000). Around $95,000 was raised through a public fundraising effort kicked off by the television program This Is Your Life which had featured Medal of Honor recipient and senior surviving officer of the Arizona, Samuel Fuqua. The Revell Model Company in conjunction with the Fleet Reserve Association sold plastic models of the Arizona which included a donation form that helped raise another $40,000 or so. Federal funding to the tune of $150,000 was obtained by Hawai'ian Senator Daniel Inouye in 1961 to complete the project.

USS Arizona, sank, is now a memorial.
USS Oklahoma, capsized, scrapped 1942.
USS Nevada, sat in several feet of water for 2 months, repaired and returned to service May 1943, used as target for atomic testing 1946, sunk by the Navy 1948.
USS Vestal, beached, repaired 1942, scrapped 1950.
USS Tennessee, badly damaged, went in for repairs in, returned to service in May 1943.
USS West Virginia, badly damaged, went in for repairs, returned to service in mid 1944, scrapped 1959.
USS Maryland, went back into service February 1942, scrapped 1959.
USS California, sank completely, raised March 1942, returned to service January 1944, scrapped 1959.
All of these ships suffered loss of life, none as bad as the Arizona, or Oklahoma, but men died on them just the same.
Many of these ships were build in 1912, 1914, 1916, and all were old when they were attacked, but they returned to the Pacific, many looked completely new, some looked the same, but they returned and gave the Japanese a major dose of "WHUP ASS"
Can you imagine how the Japs felt when they saw the VERY SAME ships they'd bombed at Pearl Harbor BACK, and attacking them!
Like the Phoenix, they rose up from not the ashes, but the ocean floor, and showed the Japanese what Americans are all about!

I don't whether this is true but...I've heard that the Allies knew exactly when the attack on Pearl Harbour would happen. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, witheld that information from the Americans because he knew that a successful attack against them would compel the US to join the war effort, which they'd been reluctant to do prior to Dec. 7, 1941.

Actually I believe that there was a whole group who blamed FDR and said he knew in advance and allowed it to happen as a blame proof way to enter the war.
There were lots of people who hated FDR and considered him a socialist and worse because of the New Deal and his unwavering support of labor.
I personally don't think he knew this in advance any more than I think Bush knew about 9/11 in advance. I guess I have limits to my jaded views even for people I dislike as much as former President Bush.
I also don't think that Churchill would have withheld the info if he knew it. There was nothing cowardly about that British Lion. I don't think he would have done it.
I do know until the end of their lives in their 70s and 80s my mother and father could still not discuss Pearl Harbor with tears in their eyes.
A quick how do explain this story. I worked with a gu whose Dad died on th Arizona when he was a baby.
My friend took his family and teenage kids to Hawaii for the first time to visit the memorial.
When they arrived he was dismayed to see the long list of names in no apparent order. He walked up the memorial and reached out his hand to touch the engraving and his hand out of all the names there landed on his Dad's name. I get chills just typing it now.
I would like to think his Dad , emtombed below his feet just kind of reach out and sai I know your here son.
Regards,
Mary

Mess Attendant Doris Miller of the USS West Virgina, was first ordered to help remove the wounded Captain Bennion from the bridge. After Bennion refused to leave, Miller spied an unmanned .50 calibre anti-aircraft machine gun. Although he had never been trained on the weapon he manned the gun until he ran out of ammunition. All hands were soonafter ordered to abandon ship.

Miller said afterwords, "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us."

For his action, Miller was awarded the Navy Cross, at the time the Navy's third highest honor, after the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service medal. Nowadays the Navy Cross is the second highest award for valor, ranking only behind the Medal of Honor. He was also promoted to Mess Attendent First Class, eventually reaching the rank of CPO, Officer's Cook 3rd Class.

Miller was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa while serving aboard the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay.

There is a wonderful exhibit honoring Miller at the Texas Historical Museum in San Antonio at the UT. He was a native Texan and is still a legand to many in Texas.
Regards,
Mary

I don't whether this is true but...I've heard that the Allies knew exactly when the attack on Pearl Harbour would happen. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, witheld that information from the Americans because he knew that a successful attack against them would compel the US to join the war effort, which they'd been reluctant to do prior to Dec. 7, 1941.

A second conspiracy theory accuses British Prime Minister Winston Churchill of knowing that the Japanese fleet was on the way to attack Pearl Harbor but not warning Roosevelt. The reason suggested for Churchill's action was a belief that the America's joining with England was the only way that Hitler could be defeated. The central work in this category is probably James Rusbridger and Eric Nave, Betrayal at Pearl Harbor: How Churchill Lured Roosevelt into World War II (Old Tappan, NJ: Simon & Schuster, 1992). Rusbridger was a prolific -- and often sensationalist -- author on intelligence matters. Nave is regarded by some as the father of British codebreaking in the Far East. Based largely on Nave's memory decades after the fact, the book contends that both the British and the Dutch intercepted -- and read -- a radio signal sent to the Japanese carrier force on 25 November 1941. That message is supposed to have revealed the position and likely destination of the Japanese fleet. The authors assert that Churchill received this message -- and deliberately withheld it in order to ensure that the United States would be attacked and thereby brought into the war.

The assertions in the Rusbridger and Nave book were greeted with some enthusiasm by the popular press, but were rejected almost universally by historians and intelligence experts. In the main, the book is based on hearsay and bits and pieces of information presented as evidence. The central argument in the book violates all that is known about the history of British and American cryptology. Briefly stated, the Japanese code that Rusbridger and Nave claim the message was sent in had not by all credible evidence -- and that evidence is voluminous -- been broken in 1941. In addition, the recently released minutes of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) for 1941 do not support the revisionist suggestion that Churchill had and withheld foreknowledge of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. See Richard Aldrich, "British and American Policy on Intelligence Archives: Never-Never Land and Wonderland?" Studies in Intelligence 38, no. 5 (1995): 18

To show that conspiracy theorists are committed to equal opportunity for friends and nonfriends alike, a third theory gives Stalin knowledge of the Japanese plans. Like Churchill, he is supposed to have so badly wanted the United States in the war against Hitler that he withheld that information from the Americans.

Commander Cassin Young, 47, commanding officer, repair ship USS Vestal. Young would be killed while serving as captain of the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco during the Guadalcanal naval battle.
.

There was a destroyer rushed into service and commissioned the USS Cassion Young. It was highly decorated in service and is retired to the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston next to the USS Constitution.
I have stood on her deck and I recommend a visit to both ships if you are ever in the Boston area.http://www.nps.gov/bost/historycultu...assinyoung.htm
We owe them all more than we can ever repay.
Regards,
Mary

Every Dec 7th here in Concord, CA the Beacon light on top of Mt Diablo is lit once a year in Remembrance of Pearl Harbor. All of the area Pearl Harbor Veterans meet at the top of the mountain and share memories of that fateful day.
Needless to say there are less and less of them each year. Breaks my heart. My boss lets me off work each year to attend. This year is is cancelled because of the snow, but they are still going to make sure that Beacon Light is lit!

The unexpected snow atop Mt. Diablo, while beautiful, has marred a 46-year tradition.
The Mount Diablo chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association has decided to cancel its summit Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony today. Every year the group holds a ceremony and the beacon atop Mount Diablo is lit and stays blinking until sunrise the next day to honor those who died at Pearl Harbor.
But even though the summit ceremony has been canceled due to this winter weather, the beacon will shine tonight, said Wayne Korsinen, an honorary member of the survivors group.
"The beacon will be lit, even if they have to hike up there," said Korsinen Monday morning.
Every year, survivors of Pearl Harbor and others have gathered to pay tribute to the more than 2,000 who died in, and those who survived, the Japanese attack in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. Those who gather always light the beacon that was erected by Standard Oil in 1928 to help guide airplanes.
While the ceremony at the summit is canceled, Korsinen said the group still plans to hold a roadside ceremony at a turnout on Northgate Road. Exactly where that will be has not been determined, but organizers are working on it this morning, Korsinen said. That quick ceremony will include Pearl Harbor survivors and will start around 3:15 p.m., he said.

There was a destroyer rushed into service and commissioned the USS Cassion Young. It was highly decorated in service and is retired to the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston next to the USS Constitution.
I have stood on her deck and I recommend a visit to both ships if you are ever in the Boston area.http://www.nps.gov/bost/historycultu...assinyoung.htm
We owe them all more than we can ever repay.
Regards,
Mary

Thanks for that post Mary.

To me, Medal of Honor citations tend to be very dry accounts of the recipient's actions. I personally much prefer the anecdotal accounts and one of my favorites is that of Commander Young. Hope you don't mind a copy and paste from this website (http://www.homeofheroes.com/pearlharbor/pearl_5az.html ) the site has a midi that I find annoying and can't figure out how to shut it off.

The repair ship Vestal was moored between the Arizona and Ford Island and had already been taking its own share of hits from the enemy bombs. Standing exposed on its deck was Commander Cassin Young, ordering resistance and seeking to organize his crew. The violence of the explosion on the USS Arizona was so intense more than 100 crewmen on the nearby Vestal were thrown into the air and hurled into the oil-covered waters of Pearl Harbor. Commander Cassin Young was among them.

Immediate panic set it. The Vestal appeared to be done for with water flowing into the engine room from an earlier bomb hit. Bulkheads bowed and buckled inward. The ship's commander vaporized along with 100 others in the explosion that destroyed the Arizona and Japanese airplanes kept coming. In a last-ditch effort to save the crew the ship's executive officer issued the order to abandon.

Men were streaming over the sides when an apparition clambered aboard. His uniform drenched with water and his entire body covered with oil, the figure presented an eerie sight standing completely exposed on the Vestal's gangplank. "Where the hell do you men think you are going?" shouted the voice of Commander Cassin Young. Unbelievably he not only survived the blast that hurtled him into the air but also the flaming waters of Pearl Harbor. Determinedly he swam back to save his ship. Looking down at the water, now filled with crewmen who were racing towards shore, he shouted, "Come back here! You're not going to abandon ship on me yet!" Then he strolled the litter-strewn deck, heedless of enemy strafing and bombardment. "All hands back to your battle stations and prepare to get under way," he shouted.

Normal steam pressure for moving the Vestal was 250 pounds. Damaged pipes spewed hot steam into the air and only 50 pounds of pressure could be achieved. On this day, it was enough. Mooring lines to the doomed Arizona were cut and slowly, miraculously, the Vestal moved into open water under the fearless guidance of Commander Cassin Young. Two tugs were commandeered to help the stricken vessel continue its escape from the burning Arizona, but water continued to pour in and it was apparent that the Vestal was sinking. To prevent the loss, Commander Young ran his ship aground on a coral reef at Aiea. The Vestal would sail again, after some repair work, thanks to its fearless skipper's sheer guts and determination.

Ima wow! What a guy and to think he continued his career on a fighting ship and lost his life while in command.
If ever a guy evinced conspicuous gallentry it was this guy.
Thank you for the additional information. They had an exhibit in Boston on the ship that told his story but I am embarassed to say I was way more interested in seeing the ship.
Regards,
Mary